Keg mash tun

[bern]

I'm currently using a Coleman 19l beverage cooler with drum sieve as a mash tun to make 23l all grain batches.
I have recently acquired a 50l keg and I'm considering converting it to a mash tun to replace my beverage cooler although I would like to continue to make 23l batches as I only have a 36l boil pot. My main concern with the new mash tun is heat loss during fermentation. How much difference can re-circulation make to retain heat loss?? or would I be better sticking with my cooler??

 

[droid]

obviously you're looking at more work to get the keg operating as a mash-tun, if you are going to recirculate you don't have to worry about insulation though I ended up insulating mine around the same time I went to a recirculating system - go figure

the idea with the stainless mash-tun would be to increase volume? or just that stainless is easy to clean and robust? or coz you got it? hehe

if you don't want to increase volume i'm not sure that buying a false bottom, and the bits and pieces is worth it. the cooler will be trumps with no recirc and also if you had recirc the cooler wouldn't have the heat loss that the stainless would have so would be more energy efficient

if you decide to go to bigger batches then the keg is great

 

[MastersBrewery]

None of the above vessels would cope with a double batch boil. So it really depends on what direction your taking your brewing. If your slowly building up to a double batch 3V then keg as mash tun will serve you well. If your running gas and committed to only doing singles, then a 50L keggle for the boil is better than the 36L pot. The 19L cooler while good for singles as you've probably discovered will only do standard batches, if your thinking of doubles later down the track the 36L pot as mash would again limit your batches to standard doubles, however you could knock out some big singles (around 10kg grain, 11 if you push it).

For anyone heading down the 3V path I'd recommend having kit able to do double batches (70L + boil kettle 50L+ for MLT and HLT) simple reason, if you no chill, you've spent the same time brewing to get twice as much beer.
hope I haven't given you even more to think about